Backstage Bodywork

Bobby gets some new ink from some old friends at Ozzfest’s 10th anniversary.

One sunny afternoon in June 2003, a group of long-haired, tattooed metal dudes arrived at the offices of High Times. They didn’t know anyone on the staff, but claimed they’d been invited by our mutual friends at Chronic Candy (who they were traveling with as vendors on the Lollapalooza tour) to come up and take the tour. Naturally, the receptionist directed them to me.

They were from Body Bazzare, a body modification shop out of Sacramento, CA, and turned out to be cool as hell. After shooting the shit for a while, one of the artists, David Abel, asked if anyone from HT would be interested in a free tattoo, to which I loudly replied, “Yes—ME!” I ran to my computer and printed out a copy of the next piece I’d been fixin’ to get—an image of the classic “Green Man” face (an ancient pagan forest god) as interpreted by world-famous tattoo artist Paul Booth for the backdrop of Slayer’s God Hates Us All tour. Upon seeing the art, Abel became as excited as I.

“This is amazing—Slayer is my favorite band, and Booth is my biggest influence,” he said, showing me his impressive portfolio of gothic black-and-gray art. “To not only do this piece but to do it on a guy who works for High Times would be an honor.”